Purdue Finishes Season Undefeated at Home with Thrashing of Ohio State
By Keith Carrell (@BoilerColts)
ISL Purdue Columnist
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Any casual fan inside Mackey Arena may have been confused when they heard cheers ring throughout the arena during Ohio State player introductions, but there was a reason for that buzz in the air as word was getting around that Michigan State had just lost at Indiana. That loss meant that a Purdue win against Ohio State would give the Boilermakers sole possession of first place in the Big Ten race with two games remaining. What unfolded next was unkind to the visiting Buckeyes as Purdue unleashed a fury of points, commandeering the game and the conference reigns, resulting in an 86-51 final score.
Ohio State was without arguably their best player, Kaleb Wesson, who was suspended indefinitely for a team violation the day prior. Jaedon LeDee got the nod in his stead and scored a quick four points, trading buckets with Matt Haarms, by slipping behind the Purdue defense. Wesson’s brother Andre Wesson answered a Ryan Cline triple to knot the game at seven five minutes into the game when things began to heat up for Purdue.
Cline fed fellow-senior Grady Eifert on a drive-kick three pointer. Evan Boudreaux followed that with a three of his own. Then it was Aaron Wheeler’s turn to knock down a long ball. Ryan Cline added another pair with a long jumper to give Purdue an 18-to-eleven lead.
It took eight minutes before Carsen Edwards made his first field goal, but it would take only seven more minutes for Edwards and Purdue to bury the Buckeyes. Edwards would lead Purdue on a 24-to-six run, scoring all but seven of those points to give the Boilers a 42-17 lead with five minutes left in the first half. In that span, Edwards was flawless as he made all seven of his shots: the long three, a driving layup, a pair of midrange jumpers, including one from the baseline that bounced off the front of the rim then the backboard before falling, a three from the left wing, another three from the top of the key, and capped it with a banked in runner from the right blocks.
“I just took what the defense gave me and I was able to make some shots.”
-Edwards on how he was able to heat up in the first half
It took seven minutes to firmly erase whatever hopes Ohio State had of leaving with a victory and any hopes Michigan State had of keeping pace in the Big Ten race. With Purdue leading 46-20 with the ball and the first half clock winding down, the Paint Crew began to beg the team to take a three in hopes of a 49-20 halftime score, the score by which the Purdue football team defeated Ohio State earlier in the year, but Edwards had a different idea — drive hard for a layup, which he made, to give the Boilers a 48-20 lead at the break.
Those first half statistics were insanely one-sided as Purdue had shot a scorching 58% from the field (19-33) and 57% from three (8-14 — after missing their final three attempts of the half). The Boilers had also grabbed 21 rebounds, assisted nine shots, and committed only three turnovers. Ohio State on the other hand had made a floundering 27% from the field (6-22) and 15% from deep (2-13) while grabbing eleven rebounds and committing five turnovers.
Averages tend to balance out, so Purdue was sure to cool off in the second half, except it didn’t start that way as shortly into the second half Purdue had somehow increased their field goal percentage to 61% (23-38). It didn’t matter who had stepped onto the court with the Boilermakers on Saturday, Purdue was going to shoot their way to a victory, Ohio State just happened to be the scheduled victim. Purdue would taper off slightly, but still managed to score a scintillating 56% for the game (33-59), including 52% from three (11-21). The performance was so lopsided that three minutes into the second half, Edwards had outscored Ohio State by himself, 25-22, and Purdue held a 34 point advantage. Edwards finished with those 25 points, but primarily because Painter didn’t let him play the final ten — you read that correctly, TEN, minutes of the game with the score so far out of reach.
By the under-eight minute media timeout, fans were already chanting, “we want Tommy (Luce), we want Tommy” to get the fan-favorite walk-on some playing time, but Painter wouldn’t put him in until two minutes remained in the game, because this was senior day and he needed to ensure his seniors were sent off in proper fashion — throwing Luce into the game could have diminished those moments. One after the other, Painter subbed out Eifert and Cline to get a well-deserved final exit cheer at Mackey from the fans.
With Wesson out for the game, Ohio State was forced to play a smaller brand of basketball. Painter countered that by having Boudreaux play extended minutes and was the first center off the bench to spell Haarms, a role typically filled by Trevion Williams. Whether it was just a matchup situation (similar matchup situations have seen Boudreaux sit entire games during conference play) or something else is going on with Williams is unknown at this time, but the promising freshman has looked unconditioned or sluggish at times since returning from the illness that saw him miss a couple of games and then fall out of the starting lineup. Williams did not check into the game until 8:31 was left on the clock.
“(Williams has) just struggled. He hasn’t played well here in the last four or five games… I’m always going to try to have an open mind to put in the guys out there best that’s going to help your team. I thought (Boudreaux) has worked really hard. (He’s) been really professional about not playing and he’s kept plugging in practice and working on his game and doing little things and I thought he gave us a better chance (to win) tonight.”
-Painter on Williams not playing until garbage time
A number of Purdue celebrities were shown on the video board throughout the game as they were taking in the blowout. Jeff Brohm, football Head Coach, Gene Keady, former basketball Head Coach, and former players Todd Mitchell and Walter Jordan were all presented with ovations from the sold out crowd.
During halftime, seniors from the Purdue Cheer squad and the Boiler Brass were recognized for their dedication to the school. After the game, student managers, Cline, and Eifert were recognized for their efforts in representing the university. Painter kicked things off by speaking of his seniors highly, but before handing the microphone over to Cline, he felt compelled to preach to the Paint Crew for a moment. Painter, after applauding the environment the Mackey faithful bring every game, plead with the students to bring a more mature, respectful approach to the game by targeting the “IU Sucks” chant as one that isn’t needed, especially on a day in which Indiana helped Purdue’s Big Ten title hopes by defeating the Spartans.
“In the past four years, we’ve had the best record in the country, so (the Mackey environment) speaks for itself.”
-Painter, during Senior Day festivities after leading the Boilers to an undefeated record at home for the season
Cline then took the microphone and thanked those around him before turning to his fellow senior, Eifert, and said, “He’s a good basketball player, but a way better person,” to which many began to laugh and Eifert looked at Cline judgingly because it came off as a subtle dig to his playing abilities. The former walk-on, Eifert then spoke and thanked those close to him and got some good laughs by digging into his father when he thanked Painter for allowing him to shoot, adding that Keady didn’t allow his father (who also played for Purdue) to shoot. Eifert then added that he didn’t blame Keady, though, because his dad couldn’t shoot.
One of my favorite stories about Purdue basketball is when Glenn Robinson played at Purdue. Bruce Weber, who was an assistant to Keady at the time, mentioned to Keady that they would miss Robinson after the season, implying that Robinson would leave early for the NBA (who was drafted as the top pick in the 1994 draft). Keady’s response to that statement was one of confusion as he hadn’t thought about Robinson leaving early. Why am I bringing this up in this story? I mention it, because I wonder if anyone had to mention something similar to Painter regarding Edwards (who happened to pass Robinson in career points during the game) when he checked out of the game for the final time as Edwards could very easily leave early for the NBA after this season.
Next up:
Away: Minnesota on Tuesday, 3/5 (8 pm, BTN)
Away: Northwestern on Saturday, 3/9 (2:30 pm, BTN)
Big Ten Tournament (Chicago): TBD on Friday, 3/15
Quick Hits:
Purdue never trailed in the contest, but it was tied a few times early… Eifert and Cline, during their four years, helped to lead Purdue to a nation-best 63 wins… The undefeated home record was the third time Purdue has accomplished that feat in Mackey (1968-69 and 2010-11 the others)… The Boilers have now won 38 of their last 39 home games, dating back to January 2017… Purdue sold out ten of their 15 home games, including the final eight to set a new season attendance record for the stadium… Purdue’s 28 point halftime lead was the fifth largest in school history, the largest was 35 against Wisconsin in 1974… Jack Karl was honored during the game after working over 600 games as the visiting team and officials host, Karl retired after the game having served for 53 years… Cline passed Chad Austin for 7th on Purdue’s career three pointers made list, now having 213 for his career… Purdue has locked up a double-bye in the Big Ten Tourney, a feat it has done all five years of the current format (the only team to do so)… Both seniors finished with eight points and five rebounds and each made a pair of threes in the game… Cline also added four assists and a block while Eifert added two steals… Purdue outrebounded Ohio State 39-27, had 17 assists, and only eight turnovers… A game after the bench scored only two points, the Purdue bench had 27 points against the Buckeyes, led by ten points and seven rebounds from Wheeler… Luce finished with one point and one assist… After going a dismal 2-13 in the first half from three, Ohio State missed all six attempts in the second to shoot a pitiful 11% from deep for the game… LeDee was the only Buckeye to finish in double figures with 16 points… The win was Painter’s 200th career win at Mackey Arena… Edwards now sits in tenth place all time for Purdue scoring with 1,727 points (passing Robinson and Keith Edmonson).
